Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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493. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will issue a final reply to correspondence (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9689/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, the Abbey in question is owned and managed by the local authority and therefore the carrying out of any works to the structure would primarily be a matter for Donegal County Council itself.

In excess of 1,000 national monuments at over 700 locations are in direct State care, including notable sites in County Donegal such as Donegal Castle, Doe Castle and Grianan of Aileach. Significant resources are required to properly manage and maintain these monuments and, as a consequence, I regret that my Department is not in a position to either take responsibility for the maintenance of the Abbey or to provide any discretionary financial assistance for that purpose outside of normal heritage funding schemes.

The funding arrangements that are in place with the support of funding from my Department to aid the protection of our built heritage, operated in some cases by the local authorities, include:

- The Structures at Risk Fund, with an allocation in 2017 of €824,000, assists conservation works to privately or publicly owned heritage structures that are protected under the Planning and Development Acts and are deemed to be at significant risk of deterioration.  The fund is administered through the local authorities and seeks to encourage the regeneration and reuse of heritage properties and to help to secure the preservation of protected structures which might otherwise be lost.

- The Built Heritage Investment Scheme which was launched on 21 October 2015 assists with the repair and conservation of protected structures, and is also administered through local authorities. The scheme, which has an allocation of €2 million, will support a significant number of projects across the country and help to create employment in the conservation and construction industries, while helping to regenerate urban and rural areas.

- The Heritage Council, which my Department funds, provides grants for the protection and preservation of the built heritage.

I would hope that one of these schemes might help to provide a solution in this case.